Direct Property News

New figures have shown that the UK’s buy-to-let property market remains in great shape as purchasing activity forged ahead at the end of the summer. According to Connells Survey and Valuation, activity surged 12.7 per cent in August, suggesting that the major Stamp Duty change brought in earlier this year has been absorbed by the sector. At the same time, a strong majority of landlords have said they plan to increase their portfolios this year, with 72 per cent telling Your Move that they were equally or more likely to buy properties in the wake of the UK’s vote to leave the EU. Following on from a first quarter of 2016 which saw a huge surge…

The UK commercial property market remains attractive to overseas investors despite the Brexit vote, according to new research. A recent survey of JLL’s global investor client base found that 72 per cent of overseas investors see the fall in sterling as an opportunity to invest in the UK, with over a quarter (27 per cent) of those saying it was an ‘immediate opportunity’.

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has reported that more of its members saw property prices rising in August compared to July, suggesting that fears of a property price crash following the EU referendum result may have been over-stated. The one exception to the positive price news is London, where 30 per cent more RICS members saw prices continuing to fall, which makes August the sixth consecutive month the capital has seen prices on the decline, and leading one leading property commentator to suggest some London property owners are ‘panic selling’.

While the London property market is enduring reported price falls for the first time in recent memory, one group of buyers is making the most of any post-Brexit uncertainty to get as much as they can from the market, according to a report on BBC Online. As Sterling suffered record falls following the EU referendum result and has yet to recover to an significant extent, foreign investors are snapping up properties at an effective discount of up to 15 per cent on exchange rates alone. In addition, those investors are now looking outside of the super-prime Central London zones in order to find the value they seek, allied to a conveniently reduced tax exposure.

Despite the last few months of uncertainty caused by the EU referendum results. There are some clear signs of positivity in the UK property market. 1 . Early reports show minimal impact (and growth) from the EU referendum The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported during August, 12% more respondents nationally reported an increase in prices, up from +5% in July. Suggesting to many that the fears over “brexit fallout” may have be overestimated.

In total, there are now 60,139 build-to-rent units in construction or in the pipeline across Britain, the British Property Federation revealed. Currently, 30,844 of them are located in London, accounting for one in five new housing starts, whilst the remaining 29,295 units are spread across the country. Build-to-rent defines those units that are purpose-built for the private rental sector through funding from institutions, which will then go on to be professionally managed and let.

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